Wildcats stay hot, beat Metro

The Mount Olive Wildcats had three players score in double figures in their girls basketball victory at home on Monday night.

Courtney Kernich was not one of them, but the 5-foot-5 sophomore had a big floor game to lead the Wildcats to a 58-36 Prairie State Conference win over the Metro East Lutheran Knights in Mount Olive.

Kernich finished with seven assists, seven steals and six points to help Mount Olive improve to 12-6. The Cats have won eight of their last nine games, with the lone defeat in that stretch a 55-39 loss to Columbia in the semifinals of the Lebanon Holiday Tournament.

Mount Olive, which starts five sophomores, is one victory away from matching the school record set with a 13-15 season last year. The Wildcats have never posted a winning season.

The Cats took control early against the Knights, leading 17-8 after one quarter and 32-20 by halftime. Zoe Murphy scored 18 points, Brianna Henke had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Jill Niehaus added 12 points for Mount Olive. The Cats were 19 of 24 from the foul line.

Metro got 11 points from Audrey Paitz, eight points from Emilee Marcuzzo, and four steals from Abby Yurchuck. The Knights, who were 1-for-15 from 3-point range, fall to 5-7.

Jersey 68, Greenfield 19 – The Panthers won their second game in a row with the nonconference romp in Greenfield. Jersey, coming off a victory over Granite City to close the Jersey Holiday Tourney, is 5-11.

Mackenzie Thurston scored 17 points to lead the Panthers, who got 12 from Bethany Muenstermann and 10 from Ashleigh Trochuk. Greenfield was led by Kassidy Walters’ six points.

Litchfield 55, Gillespie 37 – The host Purple Panthers pushed their record to 17-1 with a nonconference win over the Miners at Simmons Gym in Litchfield.

The Panthers led 20-8 after one quarter and won behind 18 points from Abby Brockmeyer and 12 from Riley Scharf. Litchfield’s lone loss came at Southwestern on Dec. 18. Amanda Schmidt scored 12 points to lead the Miners, who added nine points from Bette Hammann. Gillespie is 3-12.